Healing
by RednGold Avenger
Summary: When the Wizarding world turned its back on Harry Potter after the war, he goes to Forks, Washington to start a new life. The Cullens soon realise that Harry is the small boy who appeared to them 10 years ago during their time of great despair. NO SLASH
1. Chapter 1: Captured

Chapter 1: Captured

"Hello, Charles, my shift was just over, I'll be leaving now." Dr. Carlisle Cullen said cheerily as he walked towards the hospital entrance. Dr. Charles Garrison, who had just arrived at the hospital, smiled at him.

"Goodbye Carlisle, take care and have a nice evening," He said. Carlisle nodded and left in the direction of his car.

As he drove along the road towards the outskirts of Little Whinging, Surrey, where his home was, he suddenly had the feeling that he was being followed. All of a sudden, four figures appeared in front of his car. Thanks to his fast reflexes as a vampire, he swerved and slammed on the brakes; the car tires screeched loudly as he spun to a stop.

Stepping out of his car, he faced the four figures, taking in their appearance. Two of them seemed to be twins. They were a boy and a girl, both rather young. The other two seemed to be in their twenties; one was lean and agile, the other was huge and bulky. Carlisle recognized him as Felix; he would probably give Emmett a run for his money. All four had crimson eyes, and wore a crest with the letter 'V' on it.

"You're from the Volturi." It wasn't a question.

Felix stepped forward and smiled. "Still as intelligent as ever, Carlisle. Yes, indeed. Aro would like to speak to you. It has been a long time." Gesturing to the others, he introduced them. "This is Jane and Alec," referring to the twins, "and this is Demetri," he said, referring to the lean vampire.

Carlisle gave them a polite nod, "Pleasure to meet you." Turning to Felix, he replied, "I'm afraid this is rather short notice, perhaps we could arrange another time?"

Felix laughed, "Oh no, you misunderstand, we are here on orders to bring you to Aro, whether by force or otherwise."

"Please don't be ridiculous," Carlisle sighed, "I will need to inform my family at the very least."

"You have no choice; you are to come with us now."

"No, I'm going home," Carlisle turned and started walking back to his car. Suddenly, an intense pain ripped through his body. Gasping in pain, he fell to the ground, writhing in agony. He did not see the mist that was slowly creeping up on him.

Felix strode forward and laughed, "You should have known better than to oppose the Volturi, Carlisle." Picking Carlisle up easily by the neck, he flung him bodily towards the thick tree about ten metres away. Carlisle crashed into the tree headfirst, and said tree splintered into many pieces from the impact.

Carlisle sat up, his head spinning. His disoriented brain dimly registered the mist approaching him, when suddenly, the world became totally dark, silent and numb. He did not feel himself being picked up by Felix and sped away towards Italy, where the Volturi was waiting for him.

* * *

Esme was worried. No, she was frantic. It was totally unlike Carlisle to not call her if he was working on late shift. Had something happened to him?

"Calm down, Esme, Carlisle will be fine. He can take care of himself, he's probably just busy at the hospital," Edward tried to comfort Esme. He had been listening to her thoughts for the past hour and she was becoming more and more hysterical.

"Edward's right, Esme. Carlisle is probably doing an operation or something," Jasper said. Being an empath, he was getting the full brunt of Esme's emotions, and the intensity was driving him slightly crazy. "Why don't you call up the hospital and ask for him?" he suggested.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that!" Esme leapt up from her chair in the kitchen, and sped into the living room. "Hello, this is Esme Cullen, could I speak to Dr. Cullen please?"

"Hello Esme, this is Dr. Garrison. I'm afraid Carlisle left the hospital about two hours ago, I saw him leaving."

"He has left? Oh, thank you then, . Goodbye." Esme put down the phone with a heavy heart. Where was Carlisle? Did something happen to him?

"We'll go and look for him now," said Edward, as he walked into the living room with Jasper. Alice, Rosalie and Emmett, who had been lounging around in the living room, volunteered to go as well.

"I'm coming with you!" Esme said determinedly. The young Cullens knew better than to stop her; she was Carlisle's soul mate after all.

Running out at vampire speed, they split into pairs and went to search for Carlisle. Suddenly, they all heard Alice's short scream, and ran to where she and Jasper were at once.

"What did you find?" asked Rosalie. Alice pointed a trembling finger at the wrecked tree, and then at a black Mercedes parked nearby. Esme cried out in horror; it was Carlisle's car.


	2. Chapter 2: World of Pain

Chapter 2: World of Pain

Jane and Alec entered the cell, smirking when they saw the crumpled figure in the corner.

"Still not changing your mind?" Jane sneered. The figure gave no response.

"Well then, I'm afraid we'll just have to do the usual," Alec sighed. "You really are too stubborn for your own good, you know."

* * *

Five hours later, Carlisle lay on the floor of the dark dungeon, weak and trembling in pain. It had been two months since he was captured by the Volturi guard. Two months since he last saw his family. Two months since he last fed.

Aro had thrown away their friendship. The Volturi had hoped to break him, get him to agree to give up Edward, Alice and Jasper. All this was instigated by Aro, who thought that their powers would be a great asset to the Volturi, and would further establish the coven's status. None of their many methods of coercion had so far worked on Carlisle, though.

In addition, Aro tried to convince Carlisle that drinking animal blood was unbefitting of a true vampire, and that his family ought to change their diets because drinking human blood would make them stronger. In reality, owing to their unconventional diet, the Cullens were starting to garner almost as much status as the Volturi, something that Aro felt was threatening the Volturi. Carlisle was starved for two months now, but even when the Volturi brought him to the main chamber to watch their feeding, his self-control never wavered. He simply would not touch human blood even though he became weaker day after day.

His cell was made of the hardest steel, and had steel bars for the entrance. During his first few days in captivity, Carlisle had assumed that with his vampire's strength, he would be able to blast his way out of the cell. He had paid dearly for this escape attempt.

_(Flashback)_

_Carlisle sat in the darkness, not twitching a single muscle. He did not see or hear any of the Volturi outside his cell or within the vicinity. Now would be a great time to escape. He moved as far as he could away from the entrance of the cell, and charged towards the bars, intending to simply crash his way out of the cell and make a run for it. _

_Just when he was about thirty centimeters away from the bars, however, he encountered an invisible wall. The great impact propelled him into the air and he flew backwards, crashing into the back of the cell and creating a nice man-shaped crater in the steel wall. He fell into a heap on the ground._

_Pain shot up his back, and he winced as he tried to sit up. The thunderous sounds that had resulted from his disastrous escape attempt had caught the attention of the Volturi. _

"_Ah, Carlisle, I expected better from you," Aro smiled lightly. "Is this any way to treat your host?" _

_Carlisle didn't reply; he simply stared at Aro warily._

"_I anticipated that you would try something like this, therefore I took the liberty of having one of my guards create a force field at the entrance of your cell. Have you met Gwen?" a beautiful young woman with crimson eyes stepped forward. _

"_Anyway," continued Aro, "You obviously haven't learnt that you just don't oppose the Volturi. I suppose now would be a great time to instill that lesson into you. Felix, if you may." _

_Felix came forward, grinning maliciously._

_(End of flashback)_

Carlisle shivered in remembered fear as he recalled his punishment that day. Felix had coated a white-hot poker with venom, and proceeded to give him a thrashing with it. The venom ate away at the flesh on his back like some kind of acid, and since vampires could be harmed by fire, the white hot poker which was just taken out of the fire left numerous burn marks where the flesh had been eaten away. The pain had been so great that he nearly passed out; even when the beating was finally over, he remained curled into a ball on the dungeon floor for ages; the slightest movement caused his back to erupt into fires of agony. Not to mention the fact that there were many man-shaped craters in the steel walls now; he must have had broken three or four ribs as well as his right leg from being flung around by Felix's immense strength.

Usually, when vampires became injured, which in itself was highly unlikely, their regenerative abilities would allow them to heal by themselves in quite a short amount of time. Carlisle's body was very weak, though, since he had not fed in two months, and therefore it could not heal by itself. Combine this with the daily quarter-day long torture he received from Jane and Alec as a form of 'persuasion'. It was no wonder that he was in an almost catatonic state by the end of two months. To him, nothing else existed. There was only the darkness of his cell, the crippling pain that never ceased, as well as the gnawing hunger and burning thirst in his throat.

* * *

For the rest of the Cullens, it had been two long months since Carlisle vanished. The atmosphere in the house was always that of panic and worry, so much so that Jasper could never be relaxed and began to twitch in restlessness every few seconds.

Alice could not understand why she hadn't received any vision about Carlisle at all. Usually, being very in tune with her family, she received many visions about them all the time. Now, though, it was as if Carlisle had been written off the future, and that was not possible unless he was… no, Alice refused to even think about that possibility.

Esme was simply frantic with worry and grief. Her Carlisle, her guardian angel, the one who had saved her from the dark abyss that was her mortal life, had seemingly disappeared without a trace. Where was he? Was he badly hurt? Why hadn't he contacted them after such a long period of time?

Then, one evening when the remaining Cullens were gathered in the living room, Alice suddenly went into one of her trances. Esme and the others diverted their attention to her when her face took on a horrified expression, waiting tensely for her to break out of her trance. When Alice finally returned to reality, she looked around and said, "I saw Carlisle."

The effect was instantaneous. Emmett and Rosalie leaned closer to Alice, Esme gasped and covered her mouth, Jasper rubbed soothing circles onto Esme's back, and Edward stood up abruptly, sending his chair backwards with a crash.

"I couldn't see anyone else, just Carlisle. I couldn't see the location, he was simply in darkness. He's in a bad shape," Alice continued shakily, "He's in pain. A lot of pain."

Esme felt like her heart was being ripped into two when she heard that. Her dear sweet Carlisle, always so wonderful, kind and gentle. How could anyone bear to hurt a person like that?

Edward had seen the vision from Alice's mind. Seeing Carlisle so hurt and helpless made him tremble in fury; Carlisle had been his very first companion, they had relied on only each other for a long time before Carlisle turned Esme. He had to do something.

"Let's take the jet to Italy," Edward growled, "I have a feeling the Volturi is behind this."

"It does feel like something the Volturi would do," Jasper agreed.

Emmett jumped up. "Alright then, what're we waiting for? Let's go now! Ladies stay behind; the three of us will handle this."

To their surprise, Esme growled menacingly. "That's my other half you're talking about; you expect me to wait here while you go to rescue him? Not a chance!"

"You're not leaving Alice and me here either, we can all go together to Italy," Rosalie snapped.

The males looked at one another. Then, they shrugged and agreed. Within twenty minutes, they were flying off to Italy in their own private jet.


	3. Chapter 3: Rescue Gone Awry

Chapter 3: Rescue Gone Awry

Aro stood at the entrance of the cell, smirking at the prone figure through the bars.

"I thought you might like to know, you'll see your family very soon. The block on your mind signature has been lifted, the seer in your little coven has just experienced one of those, ah, visions about you. They're on their way here as we speak. I'm sure you can't wait to see them!" He laughed cruelly and strode away.

Carlisle lifted his head from the floor just a little at Aro's words, and then winced as the movement caused waves of pain to rip through his entire body. His family was coming…… And Aro was waiting to receive them. NO! That meant this was all a trap! His family was in danger! "No……" he whispered brokenly.

* * *

The Cullens stepped into the building. A figure emerged swiftly from the shadows.

"Ah, the rest of the Cullens! Come, Aro has requested your presence!" Felix lead them to the main chamber, where Aro, Caius and Marcus resided on three large thrones. The Volturi guard was spread out around the entire room. The Cullens were surrounded.

"Welcome to the Volturi!" Aro beamed jovially, "Now, if I may hear from you yourselves, what exactly are you here for?"

The Cullens glanced at each other.

I sense a trap; Aro knows exactly what he's doing, thought Edward to the others.

I'm feeling glee, malice, and triumph from many of the Volturi, thought Jasper.

Why didn't I see this? Alice seethed in her mind.

Finally, Esme spoke up fiercely, to the surprise of most.

"You know very well what we're here for. You have something, or should I say someone, who belongs with us. We'd appreciate it if you could kindly return him to us."

Aro laughed, but it was cold as ice, all traces of the initial humour now gone.

"We'll see about that, but in the meantime, perhaps you'd like to take a look at him?" With that, he gestured toward the room entrance. Jane and Alec entered the room, half-carrying and half-dragging something between them.

It took a moment for the Cullens to register who they were seeing. Then, the girls cried out in horror while the boys snarled in fury.

It was Carlisle.

He was wearing the shirt that he had worn when he was captured, but after two months, the white shirt was now torn and shredded from the rough treatment, and his trousers were ripped. The fine blond hair which was always impeccably neat was now disheveled. The Cullens could see that he was extremely pale and looked very weak, not to mention the frequent tremors that racked his body every few minutes.

The worst, however, was the change in his eyes. The eyes, once a brilliant topaz, were now the deepest onyx, showing his extreme thirst. Where they had been bright and danced with laughter, they were now dull and glazed with pain.

The twins tossed him onto the floor, where he landed on his mutilated back. He hissed in pain and rolled over to his side, too weak and in too much pain to stand. Jasper could feel all sorts of emotions rolling off Carlisle: pain, anger, sadness, worry, relief, and more pain.

"Carlisle!" Esme shrieked and ran towards him, only to be propelled backward by an unseen force.

"I wouldn't try that again if I were you, dear," Aro chuckled coldly.

"Why are you doing this?!" Alice suddenly yelled. "We have never harmed the Volturi, why are you doing this to us, to him?!" She pointed at Carlisle with a shaking finger.

Aro smiled, "Why, it's actually very simple, dear Alice. I want you, your husband and your brother to join the Volturi, but he refused. I want him to change his diet to that of human blood, he refused as well. Nobody opposes the Volturi that way. And if I'm to control his coven, I must first break him. They always say, cripple the leader and you'll cripple the coven."

Emmett could not control himself at this point and burst out angrily, "You'll never break Carlisle, and he's much stronger than you! Besides, we'll never follow you."

"That's right," Jasper added, "No one messes with a Cullen. You mess with one, then you mess with all of us."

Aro smirked unpleasantly.

"Really? I think I'll have you under my control in no time at all, simply by doing this." He gestured to Felix, who advanced towards Carlisle with a menacing grin, holding a poker in his hands.

The Cullens were shocked when Carlisle started whimpering in fear as Felix came closer.

* * *

Carlisle remained on the floor, unmoving, as he listened to his family defending him. He would die before he allowed Aro to control his family. Just then, he heard Aro's threat and saw Felix coming towards him. He could not help the small whimpers that escaped when he caught sight of that dreaded poker.

No no no…not that again! He remembered all too well the excruciating pain from the first time; it was even worse than the illusion of pain created by Jane, because this pain was physical and stayed with him for a prolonged period of time. If only he could just fight back…… Carlisle gritted his teeth and gathering his strength, slowly pushed himself onto his feet, swaying slightly on the spot.

* * *

Esme watched her angel fight to remain on his feet, yearning to help him but being restrained by the force field that encased them. He crouched into a defensive stance, tensing as Felix neared. Felix lifted the poker, and with amazing agility for one so huge, whipped the poker in Carlisle's direction. Carlisle leapt aside, but was not quick enough to dodge the second swipe of the poker.

With a thunderous sound, the poker slammed into Carlisle's chest. He flew backwards into the granite walls, the room shaking with the impact. With a soft cry of pain, he collapsed into a heap on the floor, curling up and shaking. The impact had caused two more ribs to be broken, and his chest felt like it had been set on fire.

The Cullens watched in increasing horror as Felix stalked towards Carlisle again, the poker raised threateningly. Esme could not bear it any longer.

"Stop it! Please! Stop hurting him!" she cried, her unbeating heart clenching fiercely as Felix continued to rain blows on her husband.

Edward was wincing with the pain of Carlisle's thoughts. As the thrashing continued, however, the onslaught of thoughts died down. Edward realized that Carlisle was teetering on the edge of consciousness.

"Stop! He can't handle it anymore. He'll die from the pain if you don't stop," Edward joined Esme in pleading.

Aro smirked, gesturing to Felix to stop. The vampire backhanded Carlisle, who was thrown back to his original position on the floor with a groan of pain.

"See, have you learnt your lesson now?" Aro smiled, "It never does good to oppose me; look at what just happened to your leader. So, will you submit now?"

"Of course not, does force ever achieve anything?" Jasper snapped.

"Hmm, in that case, I'm sorry to say……Jane, how about you practice a little on Carlisle? I'm sure you'll enjoy it," Aro grinned wickedly.

Jane, keeping a blank face, focused her gaze on Carlisle. Suddenly, Carlisle felt pain coursing violently through every single part of his body; it felt almost as bad as his recent beating. He convulsed on the ground, shaking harder than ever, but yet never allowing a single sound to pass through his lips.

Esme clasped her hand to her mouth, sobbing tearlessly. Alice was hiding her face in Jasper's chest, unable to bear the sight of Carlisle being tortured. Jasper, Emmett and Edward were clenching their fists, snarls and growls escaping them. Rosalie, who was always so stoic no matter what happened, had a pained expression on her beautiful face. No matter what she had always told Carlisle about hating him for forcing this life onto her, deep inside she cared for him greatly and thought of him as her father.

"Cut it out! You're not achieving anything with this!" she yelled.

Aro grinned, "I'm not, am I?" He waved a hand at Jane.

Jane squinted at Carlisle ever so slightly. Immediately, Carlisle felt the pain increase to the point that he was oblivious to his surroundings. Nothing else existed other than the pain. He cried out in pain, an expression of pure agony on his face. All the Cullens felt like their dead hearts would crack into two. The worst thing was that they could not do anything other than to watch, because of the force barrier separating Carlisle from them.

As Esme watched her love suffering, all lucid thought soon abandoned her. She snarled in fury, shocking the other vampires. Jane, distracted by the snarl, looked up from Carlisle, who was on the floor shaking and gasping from the lingering pain. In a blur, Esme had charged toward the nearest member of the Volturi Guard, which happened to be Gwen. Knocking the crimson-eyed vampire to the ground, Esme threw a hefty punch to her face. Gwen hissed in pain, and her concentration on maintaining the force field faltered.

As soon as the Cullens realized what had happened, they leapt towards Carlisle, intending to carry him out and make their escape. Aro, however, recovered from his shock quickly and screamed, "Seize them! Don't let them near Carlisle!" Quicker than a flash, the guards rushed towards the Cullens. After many scuffles, each Cullen was firmly gripped by two members of the Volturi Guard each. Esme had been overpowered by Gwen, who was much stronger than her after she had got over the surprise of being attacked.

Aro slowly advanced towards the Cullens, sneering at them, "Animal-feeders! Look at you, you can't even fight properly! The animal blood makes you weak! Well, well, well, we shall resolve that little problem soon, shan't we? Once the leader is gone, the rest are lost."

Then, he turned towards Esme, "But first, I will get rid of you. Do you know how close you came to ruining my plan? No worries now, you will die knowing that you were unable to save your husband, and he will watch while I kill you." He nodded to one of the guards, who came forward with a black case in his arms. Aro opened the case and lifted a long, decorated dagger.

Esme stared blankly. He was going to kill her with a dagger? Had he forgotten that such a thin piece of metal was going to crumble upon pressing against her skin? Aro, as if sensing her thoughts, smiled.

"Don't worry about the dagger breaking. This dagger is called the Soul Cleaver; legend has it that this is the only weapon that can kill a vampire. It separates the soul from the body, rendering the vampire lifeless. Apparently, this dagger kills in nine hours, through a slow, excruciating death." Here, Aro's grin widened.

"I'm not sure if the legend is true; after all, it is highly impossible that vampires actually have souls. If it is true, though, then the dagger will slice through your skin like butter, otherwise, the dagger will break, but no worries; I can always kill you using the traditional method." Aro said cheerfully.

* * *

Carlisle stared at the dagger in Aro's hand. A weapon that could separate the soul from the body. And it was going to be used to kill his Esme. The very thought of that sent a sharp ache through his chest, like an arrow had just pierced his dead heart.

Aro pulled Esme's head back, exposing her throat. The dagger was slowly guided there, ready to do its job. Carlisle watched in horror, hoping fervently for once that his belief that vampires had souls was proven wrong. "No…Esme, my love…" he whispered, just as Aro was about to deal the fatal blow.


	4. Chapter 4: Soul Cleaver

Chapter 4: Soul Cleaver

"STOP!"

All of a sudden, there was a shout. Aro paused, blinking as he realized that the one who had spoken was Marcus. The other members of the Volturi stared at him in confusion, while the Cullens looked pleasantly surprised. Carlisle heaved a small sigh of relief; at least there was opposition to Aro's plans now, and the best part was that it was Marcus.

Aro lowered the dagger, and turned toward Marcus. "Did you just tell me to stop?" he asked incredulously.

Marcus stared at him with unseeing eyes. "This is going too far. The bonds between the Cullens are built from love, not practicality. From what I have seen in my few thousand years of life, such bonds are impossible to break. What you were planning to do will not achieve anything, not to mention the fact that you are actually breaking the Volturi's code of conduct."

"Besides," he looked at Carlisle, "the lady vampire is Carlisle's true mate. Should you destroy her, he will feel the pain as I have felt, and I wouldn't wish that pain upon anyone, other than the bastard who killed my Didyme. Cullens, you're free to go. Take Carlisle with you."

The Volturi Guard looked unsurely at the Aro, Marcus and Caius, uncertain as to whose orders they should follow. When Caius nodded, however, they relaxed and allowed the Cullens to approach Carlisle.

Esme rushed towards Carlisle, embracing him. When he gasped in pain, she pulled back immediately, apologizing, "I'm so sorry, I forgot that you were hurt badly."

Carlisle smiled at her, doing his best to ignore the pain that had just exploded on his chest and back.

"It's okay," he lifted a shaky hand and caressed her cheek. "I've missed you so much. I love you, my angel."

"Oh Carlisle," Esme dry sobbed, "You're my angel too; I couldn't live without you!"

The Cullen children had wide smiles on their faces.

"Hey Carlisle, dad, good to have you back," smiled Edward. He knelt down and carefully lifted Carlisle into his arms. Carlisle clenched his teeth in pain. "I'm sorry," Edward apologized, "We'll bring you home now and get you fixed up." He stood up carrying Carlisle effortlessly in his arms, and followed the other Cullens to leave the room, Esme following close behind.

Carlisle looked back at Marcus. "Thank you so much, Marcus," he whispered. He saw Marcus nod just a fraction. Aro looked livid; his fist was clenched tightly around the Soul Cleaver, shaking with fury. And then, Carlisle had just a fraction of a second's warning as Aro tensed the muscles in his arm, and then hurled the dagger towards Esme with his incredible strength.

In that split second, Edward had suddenly stopped and turned around, his eyes widening in alarm as he heard Aro's murderous thoughts. Carlisle gathered the very last bit of strength he had, and flung himself out of Edward's arms at Esme, knocking her to the floor just as the dagger was about ten centimeters from her back.

Esme was shocked to see Edward turn around in alarm, but nothing could have prepared her for the force that knocked her to the ground. She heard a heart-wrenching roar of pain. The other vampires and the Cullens also turned towards the disturbance, only to freeze in horror and shock as Esme had when she finally took in the sight of Carlisle crumpled on the floor.

His beautiful face was white and contorted in pain, as he lay there, gasping for breath which he did not need. The Soul Cleaver was embedded in his side just below his ribs, all the way to the hilt of the dagger.

"Well," Aro remarked gleefully, "I guess this means that the legends are true after all!"

Chaos ensued.

* * *

At first, Carlisle only felt the pain from his chest and back as the impact jarred his injuries. Then suddenly, he was attacked by the intense pain in his side. It was pain like he had never felt before, his torture could not compare to this agony. It felt like he was being tugged and pulled apart into tiny little pieces, like the molecules that made up his body were beginning to drift apart. Slowly, the pain increased, until it was impossible to bear it in silence.

Carlisle closed his eyes and roared in pain. He could not find any other outlet for the pain; he had to concentrate on keeping his body together even through the haze of pain in his mind. He heard Aro's remark, and it finally sank in: he was going to die. If the legends were true, then he did have a soul, and he was going to lose it in nine hours' time.

He vaguely heard Caius roar in the distance, "Restrain that fool!" and then he felt the presence of his family around him.

Jasper said, "We have to get him home immediately; we'll treat his injuries there. Don't pull out the dagger yet, we'll do it in the jet."

Someone carefully carried him in their arms, and then there was the sensation of flying. Carlisle dimly registered that they were moving at full vampiric speed. Soon, they reached the jet. Jasper and Emmett immediately started the engine and prepared for take-off while Edward and the girls settled Carlisle on the couch in the jet. The jet took off.

Esme lifted his head gently and lowered it onto her lap. She caressed his face lovingly, heartbrokenly running her fingers through his soft, fine blond hair. Carlisle whimpered in pain and leaned into the touch. "Shhh…It's going to be okay, you're going to be fine…" Esme comforted her angel.

Edward sat at the side of the couch. "Carlisle, I'm going to pull the dagger out now, okay? It'll probably hurt a lot, but there's no other way," He told Carlisle, who nodded shakily. Edward took a deep breath, placing his hand on the hilt of the dagger. With a flick of his wrist, the dagger was pulled out. Carlisle cried out, pressing a hand to his side, which was not bleeding but had a visible stab wound there. He could feel an increase in the painful tugging sensation, and had to concentrate harder to keep himself together. I'm fighting to keep my soul in my body, he realized dimly through the hazy pain.

The jet finally landed. Edward immediately lifted Carlisle into his arms, and the Cullens speeded out towards home.

"Shouldn't we get some animal blood to feed him, too? It will give him more strength," Rosalie asked. Jasper shook his head, "Introducing any foreign substances to his body at this time might be fatal to him."

"Besides, from what I can hear of his thoughts, this is a battle that relies on his mental strength, not physical," Edward grimaced.

Their home was in sight now. Edward put on an extra burst of speed, and soon entered the house.

Place him on the bed in our room, Edward, thought Esme. Edward sent an affirmative reply and did that.

The other Cullens reached the house a minute after Edward. Without hesitation, Esme, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie went up to Carlisle's and Esme's bedroom, while Alice ran to get a basin of water, a clean cloth and some bandages. Entering the room, she placed the items on the bedside table. Edward had carefully arranged Carlisle on the big bed so that he was lying on his uninjured side. Jasper was standing at the side with Rosalie and Emmett, sending out soothing waves to Carlisle. Esme was on the bed, cradling Carlisle's head on her lap and stroking his head.

"Alice, help me to get rid of his shirt and the material covering his right leg, I'll need to see how bad his injuries are," Edward said as he reached out for the cloth and basin of water. Alice carefully removed the torn remnants of the white shirt, and then gasped as she finally saw Carlisle's body. Esme covered her mouth and sobbed, while the other vampires clenched their fists and growled in anger.

The beautiful body, once flawless, was now littered with cracks all over. The burnt marks on his chest and back were cracked and indented, due to being flung about and the venom eating at his flesh. The cracks on his chest were particularly severe, and the Cullens could see that at least five ribs were protruding through the cracks. Their horror only increased as Alice tore away the cloth covering Carlisle's right leg. The leg was twisted at an unnatural angle, and three deep cracks ran down from his mid-thigh all the way to his ankle.

"Oh Carlisle, I'm so sorry," Esme whispered as she buried her face in Carlisle's hair, "So sorry that we couldn't get you out of that hell hole earlier. Then you needn't have suffered so much!"

"It's not your fault, love, not any one of you. Aro had a mental barrier put up around me so that Alice couldn't have visions of me unless he wished it. None of you could have known what was happening," Carlisle smiled wanly, his face drawn tight with pain. He stiffened in pain, and his muscles tensed, as Edward as gently as possible cleaned his wounds. A strangled gasp erupted from him as Edward brushed the cloth against his stab wound.

"Carlisle, I'm going to have to set your broken bones in place now, and I'm really sorry but it's going to hurt a lot," Edward said. Carlisle nodded and clenched his eyes shut. He cried out as Edward pushed the protruding ribs back in place, and set the bone in his right leg. Carlisle took in deep ragged breaths as Edward bandaged his entire torso and his leg. "All right then, all done," Edward said, standing up.

"What about the stab wound? Is it still, you know, pulling his soul away from his body?" Emmett asked.

Edward looked at Carlisle apologetically. "I don't know; technically, Carlisle should heal physically, but this is an entirely different thing altogether. I can't do anything!" He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.

Esme started sobbing tearlessly again, cradling Carlisle's head close to her. "Why did you take the dagger for me? You've always believed that we have souls! Didn't you know that you could die?"

Carlisle weakly lifted a hand to stroke Esme's cheek. "You know that I would willingly throw my life away for you, my angel. Even if I die today, it was worth it."

"NO! Don't say that, Carlisle Cullen! You are not going to die! You will recover and we will be a happy family again!" Esme cried hysterically, pressing Carlisle's cold hand against her cheek. Carlisle didn't say anything; he simply looked into Esme's eyes lovingly.

The Cullen children looked on in sadness; they knew deep down that Carlisle only had a few hours more to live, and it tortured them to see the beautiful couple separated by such a thing as death, something that was in the first place highly unlikely for an immortal being like a vampire.

Suddenly, Alice spaced out. She gripped Jasper's hand tightly as she stared unseeingly into the distance.

"Well, what did you see?" Rosalie pressed. Alice stared for a few more seconds before answering in anguish.

"I see two futures. In the first, we are holding a funeral for Carlisle." Everyone in the room except for Carlisle sucked in a deep breath. Thinking that Carlisle was going to die was one thing; hearing Alice say it aloud that it was set in the future was quite another thing.

"Wait, there's still the other future. In that one, Carlisle is perfectly healthy and we are all lounging around the sitting room as a family!" Alice's tone had brightened perceptibly.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hi guys, thanks for the reviews! Just to let you know, school is starting again tomorrow, and it's the exam period so I won't have that much time to update. I do promise to update within the week, though… Haha, in case you're wondering how Harry comes in, the next chapter is entitled "Harry's Strange Dream". Does that give you a clue?


	5. Chapter 5: Harry's Strange Dream

Chapter Five: Harry's Strange Dream

"Get your worthless hide in here, freak! You'll be sorry that you were ever alive if you ruin Dudley's birthday breakfast!" Vernon Dursley screamed at his cowering nephew from the kitchen.

Harry Potter was a very miserable seven-year-old boy. When his parents died when he was only one year old, he was sent to live with his relatives, the Dursleys. For as long as he remembered, he had been hated and abused by them, and weird things happened all the time around him. What he did not know, was that they hated him because he was magical. Harry Potter was a wizard, and not just any wizard, but the Boy-who-Lived. At just one year old, he had defeated the most powerful Dark Lord of the time, Lord Voldemort, and was the only person to date who had survived the killing curse, thereby earning him the title.

At the moment, though, young Harry had more pressing matters to worry about. He had been out in the garden, pulling weeds since dawn. Now, he had to go and prepare a monstrous breakfast for the Dursleys who were impatiently sitting at the dining table. Climbing onto the stool at the stove, he began to fry heaps of eggs, bacon, and toast.

"Mum, make the freak hurry up! I'm hungry!" whined Dudley.

"Hurry up boy! I won't have Dudley starving on his birthday!" Petunia screeched.

"Sorry, Aunt Petunia, I'm almost done," Harry mumbled. Turning the fire off, he balanced the plates heaped with mountains of food on his small arms and walked carefully to the dining table. So engrossed he was, that he did not see the malicious grin on Dudley's face, nor the inching of Dudley's foot towards where Harry was approaching.

Harry tripped; the plates went crashing to the floor, and the food was splattered all over the Dursleys.

Harry froze, still on his hands and knees on the floor. He heard his uncle stand up very deliberately and breathed deeply. His mind went numb with fear. Vernon was sure to be livid; he had ruined their clothes and Dudley's breakfast.

To say that Vernon Dursley was livid was an understatement. He glowered ferociously at his shaking nephew on the ground. Taking a deep breath, he bellowed, "You FREAK! You think it's funny, don't you? You are going to regret that you ever lived, you freaky worthless abomination of the world! No wonder you have no parents! Freaks like you don't deserve parents!"

He grabbed the small boy's arm and hauled him onto his feet roughly; Harry cried out as his arm was wrenched out of its socket. Ignoring the boy's cries, Vernon dragged him over to the still hot stove and, smirking maliciously, placed the boy's hand on the stove.

Harry screamed in pain.

Vernon's face twisted in anger and he roared, "Don't you dare make a sound, you worthless piece of trash!" Saying that, he removed his belt and advanced menacingly towards the boy.

"No, please no, Uncle Vernon, I'll do whatever you say, I'm sorry, please don't hit me, no…" Harry pleaded as he scrambled away from Vernon in fear.

"Stop running away, you freak!" Vernon screamed. Grabbing Harry by the neck, he slammed him against the wall and lifted the belt.

"No…no…" Harry struggled weakly, but his efforts were in vain and seemed to make Vernon angrier. Again and again, the belt descended, metal buckle first. Harry sobbed in pain soundlessly, going limp in Vernon's grip. Finally, when he was on the edge of consciousness, the belt stopped.

"You will stay in your cupboard, no meals for two days!" Vernon bellowed and lifting the boy bodily threw him into the cupboard under the stairs, and locked it. Harry curled into a small ball on his thin, threadbare mattress. He felt like his entire body was on fire. Every little movement brought on a fresh bout of pain, and he knew that two of his ribs were broken due to the belt buckle. Harry always listened to the boys at his school talk about wanting superpowers to fly, to shoot laser beams and other childish things, but Harry knew that if he could have a superpower, he wanted to be able to heal himself and other people.

Since he could think, he often wondered why everyone else had parents except him. There was nothing he wished more in the world than to have a mum to fuss over him and take care of him, like Aunt Petunia did with Dudley, and to have a dad to be proud of him, to be someone whom he could count on no matter what happened. Even Uncle Vernon always told Dudley how proud he was of him, and bragged to anyone who would listen about how great his "Dudders" was.

Uncle Vernon is probably right, Harry thought sadly, I'm too freaky and worthless to deserve parents. With that thought in mind, Harry, who had hardly slept the night before having to wake up to do his chores, cried himself to sleep.

* * *

It was morning.

Carlisle cried out in pain, his back arching off the bed as he twisted.

The Cullen children watched in despair. They had come to the crucial last hour, and Carlisle's condition had not improved the slightest. He was now constantly shaking in pain, and occasionally convulsed when a particularly severe bout of pain overtook him. They had no choice but to face the fact; Carlisle was dying and there was nothing they could do about it.

Esme was heartbroken. Her angel was dying, slowly but surely. What made it worse was seeing him suffer a slow painful death this way. Such a perfect, compassionate person like Carlisle didn't deserve this ending. He didn't deserve to die at all. She could understand now how Marcus came to become the sour person that he was now. All the heartache of losing your soul mate did that to you.

Carlisle breathed heavily. He didn't need the oxygen, but this helped to alleviate the excruciating pain by just a fraction. He felt like his insides were all being ripped apart and set on fire. He knew he was dying. He could feel it, the haze of pain in his mind threatening to overwhelm him unless he gave up his tenuous hold on his soul. The pain pressed menacingly, give up now, the flames licked at his insides, let go and the pain will stop. By sheer will and determination, Carlisle clutched harder at his soul.

"Edward, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie…" he called in a barely audible whisper. They gathered around his bed immediately. Carlisle took another deep breath. "I… I don't think I'm going to make it, so I'll say my last words to you first. You have all been wonderful sons and daughters to me all these years; I could not have asked for better. I want you to know how very proud I am of all of you. Please take care of your mother for me after I'm gone, and…never doubt now that you have souls." He smiled weakly. Alice and Rosalie were dry-sobbing, while their husbands and Edward had expressions of raw pain on their faces.

"Esme…" Carlisle weakly lifted a hand to caress his angel's face. "All these years, you have been my sweet angel; I was never complete without you by my side. I'm sorry that I couldn't keep my promise to stay with you forever…"

At this, Esme sobbed and held Carlisle's hand to her cheek. "Don't say that, love," she whispered, "You'll be fine."

Carlisle smiled wanly and shook his head, "You know I won't make it. Please try to carry on with your life, for me. I love you so much, forever……" His voice trailed off. He could not hold on any longer; the pain was simply too great. With one last painful tug, he relinquished his hold on his soul, and all went dark before his eyes.

"Carlisle! NO!" Esme cried out as Carlisle's eyes closed and his limp hand thudded back to the bed. The Cullen children stared in horror; their father could not be dead! It just seemed so surreal. Esme hugged Carlisle's lifeless body as she wept tearlessly. Alice and Rosalie gripped his hands tightly and wept as well. Jasper and Emmett had agonized looks on their faces as they stared at their father's lifeless body.

Edward fell to his knees. "No…" he whispered, "Carlisle, come back! You can't do this to me; you can't leave me, Dad…" He couldn't control the flood of emotion anymore. Carlisle was his very first companion; he had single-handedly taught him to be the person that he was now. For the first time in many years, Edward cried.

Suddenly, all of them froze. They'd just heard someone asking, "Is he your Daddy?" Looking around for the source of the voice, their eyes fell on the figure standing in the doorway of the room. They were stunned. Standing there was a little boy. It wasn't really a boy though, more of an apparition. The vampires could see through his body, but apart from that, he looked real.

* * *

Harry was having a very odd dream. Odd, even by his standards. As soon as he had fallen asleep, he found himself in a huge house. The house was nicely decorated, with a very homey feeling to it. Harry decided that he loved it. It was then that he noticed the absence of pain; his clothes were the ones he was wearing when he went to sleep, and they were ripped and torn from the lashing Uncle Vernon had given him, but his injuries were somehow miraculously gone.

Odd, he thought, I wonder if there are people in this house. He walked up the staircase towards a room with an open door, stopping short when he saw the scene in the room.

There was a man who was heavily bandaged up lying down on the bed, with a woman sitting near his head. Five teenagers surrounded the bed. They were all extremely beautiful, and the man and woman looked rather young. Harry wondered if they were angels.

But, he realized, the man looked like he was dying, and the woman who was weeping must be his wife. Who were the five teens, though? They looked way too old to be the children of the couple.

The man began to speak. Harry's heart ached as he saw the way the man spoke to the five teens, the way he told them that he was proud of them. Like a father, Harry thought sadly. He was even sadder as he watched the man say goodbye to the woman; the love between them was evident. Harry thought that they made a beautiful couple; Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were never like this.

He was rather shocked when the man closed his eyes and all the females started crying. He was even more astounded that there were no tears when they cried. Harry looked at the male teens; two of them looked extremely sad and the third looked distraught. Harry vaguely wondered why he was having this dream; it was a very weird dream, even weirder than the one with the flying motorcycle and lots of green light.

It was then that he heard the male teen call the man "Dad". That was his father? Harry was stunned. But the man looked so young! How could he have five grown teenager children?

"Is he your Daddy?" Harry wondered aloud. He was shocked when the people in the room actually looked at him like they had heard him! This never happened in dreams. Maybe this dream was special? Perhaps he could control this dream! He could dream that he had a superpower which was to heal people, and he could help to give the teenagers back their daddy! Harry thought it was a perfect plan.

He flitted over to the man's bedside. The woman and the teens made no move to stop him; they looked dumbfounded. Harry looked at them once, and then placed his small hands on the man's bandaged torso. He tried to will the injuries to heal, but nothing happened, as far as he could see. He suddenly remembered that the man, called Carlisle, had mentioned something about 'souls' and the females had started crying when the man closed his eyes. Perhaps his soul had floated away? Well, since this was his dream, he should be able to bring it back. But how would he do that in the first place?

Harry remembered his teacher saying once that the eyes are the windows to one's soul. Could that be true? Harry decided that it was and climbed onto the bed, perching on the pillow next to the man's head. Using his hands, he lifted the man's icy cold eyelids and looked straight into the dark onyx eyes. Without warning, the world dissolved around him, and he was surrounded by darkness.

Harry looked around, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, he caught sight of a very faint golden thread leading from somewhere near him to somewhere else in the darkness. Oh well, he decided, it can't hurt. He lightly grasped the thread with one hand and began to follow it into the darkness.


	6. Chapter 6: Light in the Darkness

Chapter Six: Light in the Darkness

Carlisle found himself in darkness after he released his hold. He wondered where he was, since he could not make out anything in the darkness. Staring hard, he saw a spot of light ahead. Not knowing what else to do, he headed towards the spot.

As he walked, the spot of light grew bigger and bigger. Carlisle could hear singing in the distance. It was beautiful, and made him almost want to cry in happiness. Finally, the spot of light was big enough for him to see clearly the source of the light. He was stunned. There, standing far up ahead in front of huge golden gates, were a group of beautiful shining beings, the source of the singing. They each had a pair of glorious wings, and their beauty far surpassed any vampire or creature that Carlisle had ever seen.

They were angels. This is heaven, Carlisle realized with joy, so there really is heaven for creatures like us!

He was so overjoyed, that he was prepared to rush ahead, eager to join these beautiful beings. However, he suddenly heard his name called from behind.

"Mr. Carlisle? Mr. Carlisle?"

Turning around, Carlisle saw a small boy waving at him. The boy was bespectacled, with untidy black hair and looked to be about four or five years old.

The boy came closer. "Are you Mr. Carlisle?" he asked. Not waiting for a reply, he continued, "You must be. You looked exactly the same as you did in the room. I'm here to take you back there!" He beamed.

Carlisle stared at the boy, bemused. Take him back to the room? To his body? Wasn't he dead already? He voiced the last thought aloud.

"I don't know," the boy shrugged, "I do know that if you follow that golden thread, you can go back to your body."

Looking where the boy pointed, Carlisle saw that a golden thread trailed from where he stood into some place in the darkness. But, go back to his body? Back to that frightening, excruciating pain? When heaven was just behind him, waiting for him?

The boy seemed to sense his thoughts. "They really miss you a lot," he said softly, "And… I can heal your body if you would just go back. It'll just be painful for a little while, and then you'll be healthy again. I can't heal your injuries now without your consciousness there."

Carlisle was torn. If he endured the pain for a while, then he could see his sweet angel and his children again. But, the pain was just so terrible; he could not imagine feeling it once again rip through his body. Carlisle cringed mentally at that very thought. And heaven was just behind him. Could he really believe this little boy, and turn his back on heaven to go back to his family?

"Please go back, sir. Follow the thread and go back. It's really horrible to be without a father…" the boy pleaded, his beautiful emerald green eyes wrought with emotion.

Carlisle felt his heart clench at the wistful longing in the child's voice. Yes, the boy was right; it was terrible to be without a father. And he knew then that he could not abandon his family like that. Heaven would be here forever; his family, however, may not be with him forever. After all, the Soul Cleaver may just be one of the many previously unknown methods that could kill vampires. If he followed the thread back to his body, he could be with his family again, and the resulting few moments of pain would only be a small price to pay for the reward.

"All right," Carlisle nodded at the boy, "I'll follow the thread back to my body."

* * *

The Cullens were shocked beyond belief. The boy had simply appeared out of nowhere! And he wasn't even a real boy, he was an apparition. Edward could not read his thoughts, and Jasper could not sense his emotions. He was small, bespectacled, and had messy black hair.

They were even more stunned as the boy just flitted over to Carlisle and placed his hands on his torso, as if willing him to heal. Esme couldn't bring herself to tell him that Carlisle was no longer alive and healing his injuries wouldn't do any good. They watched as the boy frowned due to the lack of response, but then he scrambled onto the bed, sitting near Carlisle's head, and forced his eyes open. The boy stared straight into Carlisle's eyes, and then remained stone-still, unresponsive to any movement.

The Cullens glanced at one another.

"Should we stop him?" Alice whispered.

Jasper shook his head, "He can't possibly do anything to worsen the situation. Let's just watch him."

"What exactly is he? A ghost?" Emmett scratched his head, wondering.

"I don't know; I've never seen anything like this…" Edward whispered back.

Rosalie and Esme didn't say a word; they simply stared intently at the motionless figure of the small boy. They were both sharing the same thoughts, he looks so young! How old is he? Where are his parents? What is he?

The Cullens were all pulled out of their musings when the boy suddenly jumped off the bed, and scrambling over to Carlisle's bedside, placed his hands on the bandaged torso once again. He closed his eyes and scrunched his small face up into a look of concentration.

The next thing that happened shocked them all to the very core of their beings. Carlisle's body suddenly jerked, as if in pain, and then Carlisle took in a deep, ragged breath. The Cullens stared in disbelief. Had Carlisle just returned from the dead? How was that possible?

A hiss of pain escaped from Carlisle's lips. The boy immediately hopped over to stand next to Carlisle's broken right leg and placed his hands on the leg. The Cullens saw that Carlisle slowly relaxed and his face smoothened out from its initial grimace of pain. Was the boy…healing Carlisle's injuries?

Finally, the boy removed his hands from the leg and beamed happily, looking at Carlisle's face. The Cullens watched in anticipation as Carlisle's eyelids fluttered, then opened fully. Focusing on Esme's face hovering frantically over his, he smiled softly, saying, "I came back for you, all of you."

Esme shrieked and threw her arms around Carlisle's neck, sobbing tearlessly with relief and joy. The girls similarly threw themselves at Carlisle, hugging him tightly around the waist. The boys stood close, grinning with happiness.

Alice pushed herself away from Carlisle abruptly, cupping a hand over her mouth in horror. "Oh no, I forgot your side was hurt! I'm so sorry!"

Carlisle laughed, "I think it's all healed now; it doesn't hurt at all!"

"Really? May I take a look?" Edward asked.

"Go ahead, son," Carlisle smiled.

Esme and Rosalie got off the bed while Edward carefully unwrapped the bandages around Carlisle's torso. The Cullens were speechless. Where there were cracks and burns initially, the skin was now smooth and flawless. There was not a single scar, which was a miracle because vampire venom was the only thing that left scars on vampires. Edward unwrapped the bandages around the right leg as well. It was fully healed. The cracks were gone and the bone was fully mended.

Alice leapt at Carlisle, hugging him happily again. Carlisle laughed and pushed himself upright, sitting with his back against the headboard of the bed.

"Thank you, thank you so much," he told the little boy, whom the Cullens had momentarily forgotten was still standing at the side of the bed.

"Yes, thank you so much," Esme smiled gratefully at him. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have got Carlisle back."

The small boy smiled at them. "It's all right; I like my dreams to have happy endings after all! This is probably the best and most interesting dream yet! I didn't know that the people in dreams could talk to you and hear you!" He was almost bouncing with excitement.

The Cullens were stunned.

"You think…that this is a dream?" Jasper asked hesitantly.

The boy grinned hugely, "Sure, why not? I can't do any of this in real life. But I can have superpowers here because it is my dream, and I can dream what I want to!"

Rosalie asked curiously, "How come you're dreaming about us, then? You don't know us, and we don't know you. Why aren't you dreaming about something else, like your family or your parents?"

The boy's grin changed suddenly into a look of wistful longing and deep sadness.

"I don't have parents," he mumbled, "Uncle Vernon says that I'm a worthless freak, and freaks don't deserve parents."

The Cullens stared at the boy in horror. What kind of life did this small boy have, being told such cruel things to the point that he actually believed them!

Suddenly, before any of them could refute the boy's words, he began fading before their very eyes.

"Wait!" Alice exclaimed, "What's your name? How old are you?"

"I'm Harry, and I'm seven this July…" the boy's voice grew fainter and fainter until he totally disappeared from the room.

The Cullens looked at one another sadly, their joy momentarily forgotten in the light of the small boy's words.

"How could he be seven? He looked like he was only four or five years old!" Rosalie said in distress.

"But what can we do? Was he even real? How did he just fade like that? And we could see through his body too!" Emmett said, his brow joining together in confusion.

"He thinks he's dreaming, but we know for sure that this isn't a dream. He wasn't even physically here; he was just an apparition! How do we find the real boy?" Carlisle murmured. "He guided me back, you know. I was walking in the darkness, and then I saw heaven in the distance. I was so happy to be away from the pain that I was ready to just run to heaven there and then. But he stopped me and I remembered that heaven would be there forever, but I only get my family once."

Here Carlisle's voice filled with anguish. "He told me that it was really horrible to be without a father… And then I thought of you and I decided to come back."

The Cullens were silent in light of this revelation.

"The worst part is," Edward broke the silence, "We can't do anything. Absolutely nothing at all," he sighed.

* * *

Harry woke up with a start. That was some dream, he thought. The first thing he registered was that he was still in his cupboard. The next thing he noticed was the absence of pain. He sat up quickly, feeling his ribs. Happiness bubbled up in him. Somehow, he was completely healed!

Suddenly, the cupboard door was wrenched open. All thoughts of the curious dream he just had was lost as he saw Uncle Vernon advancing towards him menacingly with a deafening "You FREAK!"


	7. Chapter 7: Leaving

Chapter Seven: Leaving

Seventeen-year-old Harry Potter roughly rolled up the copy of the Daily Prophet that he was reading, and angrily threw it onto the floor. The newspaper unrolled on the floor, only to reveal Harry's picture on the front page article.

_**HARRY POTTER: THE DARK LORD'S ACCOMPLICE?**_

_Despite the defeat of You-Know-Who one week ago, the number of Death Eater raids has increased exponentially. When Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic approached our supposed Savior, Harry Potter, with a much coveted position as an Auror, he was abruptly declined. Why is our Savior shirking his duty and refusing to hunt down the rest of the Death Eaters? This reporter wonders if there is more to the situation than meets the eye. There were no witnesses to the final battle between Harry Potter and You-Know-Who, other than the assembled Death Eaters and Severus Snape, the current Potions Master at Hogwarts, and according to the late Albus Dumbledore, ex-Death Eater and supposed spy for the Order of the Phoenix. Was the final battle really a showdown between the Dark Lord and our Savior, or was it a fight for power between the old Dark Lord and a rising dark lord? The latter would certainly make sense, considering the rise in Death Eater raids lately. _

_Harry Potter's former two closest friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, wisely chose to leave what had been dubbed the "Golden Trio" and sever all ties with Potter, after the defeat of You-Know-Who last week. "We were afraid that if we stuck around any longer, Potter would spread his dark tendencies to us. Potter is a danger to our society; I reckon he had You-Know-Who stuck in his head for too long. After all, he's a Parselmouth, and he was almost sorted into Slytherin, but was sly enough to convince the Sorting Hat to put him in Gryffindor," says Ronald Weasley, Head Boy of Hogwarts. Hermione Granger, Weasley's girlfriend and Head Girl of Hogwarts, adds, "Over the past seven years, he has been constantly leading us into dangerous situations that could have cost us our lives. He obviously has no regard for the safety of any Hogwarts student. Whenever he battled directly with You-Know-Who, somehow there were always no other reliable witnesses. How do we know for sure that he is on the Light side as he claims? You-Know-Who could have wanted to kill him because he was threatening to steal the position of Dark Lord."_

_The two former friends of Harry Potter have indeed given us much to think about. Should we be celebrating the fall of the former Dark Lord, or mourning the rise of a new, even more powerful dark lord? This reporter thinks that the Minister should quickly take action, in order to prevent further bloodshed and the prolonging of the Dark Reign._

_Reported and Written by Rita Skeeter_

Harry sat at the table, burying his head in his arms. What in the world had he done to deserve such an existence? Abused from young, treated like it was his duty to save the wizarding world, stalked by all that unwanted publicity just because he was the orphaned Boy-Who-Lived. And now, he was about to be shunned by the society because he had done them a favour and defeated Lord Voldemort once and for all.

It didn't help that Ron and Hermione abandoned him, and then spoke against him. In reality, they wanted to discredit him, because Ron was jealous of his fame which he never wanted in the first place, while Hermione resented him because he had started to excel in his studies greatly and top the year since the start of sixth year.

The start of sixth year… That was three months after Sirius' death. Harry felt his heart clenching in grief as he thought of Sirius. When he discovered in his third year that Sirius was his godfather and was innocent, it was one of the happiest moments of his life. He finally belonged to a family. He had hoped that Sirius could be like a father figure to him, but it soon became apparent that the long stint in Azkaban had permanently damaged Sirius, not just physically but emotionally as well. Still, having Sirius was like having an older brother, someone to confide in, to protect him. It was his very own family, which was much more than what Harry was used to.

When Sirius fell through that veil, Harry's heart was shattered. Once again, death had claimed the only family he had known in his life. He endeavored not to think about his loss, instead throwing himself into his studies, learning new spells and trying to find techniques to defeat Voldemort once and for all. Harry pushed everyone away; refusing to get close to anyone for fear that they were used against him like Sirius was. He believed that he did not deserve to be loved, did not deserve a family; after all, fate had done nothing to disprove that notion of his. Yet, a small part of him, which he ruthlessly squelched down, that was just the unloved little boy he had been still yearned for a family, a father; somewhere he could truly call his home and be loved for just being Harry. Most of all, someone to rely on for a change, to feel proud of him for simply being Harry……

Harry suddenly stood up, accidentally knocking his chair backwards. He had to leave the country immediately; with Rita Skeeter's article out, there was no doubt that Aurors were going to come knocking on his door at Grimmauld Place soon. He didn't need this kind of trouble, what with the Death Eaters that were probably still on his back from killing their master. They would no doubt be incensed after reading that article in the Daily Prophet.

Within ten minutes, Harry was done packing. He shrunk the trunk that contained all his belongings and quickly went to dress himself for the upcoming trip. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a black long-sleeved T-shirt. He slipped on his trainers, and checked that his wand was fastened securely in the wand holster on his arm, hidden under his sleeves.

He was ready to leave England now, ready to leave behind this life that caused more pain than joy for him. Harry hesitated a moment; should he inform Professor McGonagall that he was leaving? She had been one of the few people that he trusted fully with his life, that resisted all his efforts to push her away and stuck by him no matter what happened. He had to at least tell her that he was leaving; he owed her that much.

Walking over to the fireplace, he tossed a handful of floo powder in. "Hogwarts, Headmistress' Office!" he called, sticking his head in. He was soon greeted by the sight of the professor kneeling in front of the fireplace, smiling at him.

"Good morning, Harry! What brings you calling so early in the morning?" she asked.

"Good morning Professor, please stand back, I'm coming through now," Harry said. Standing up, he stepped into the green flames and soon tumbled out of the fireplace in the Headmistress' Office in Hogwarts. Brushing soot from his jeans, he muttered grumpily, "Honestly, what's the point in being so good in flying and graceful in dueling if after so many years, I'm still unable to land without falling from the Floo!"

Hearing three chuckles instead of one, he looked up in surprise, only to see Severus Snape and Remus Lupin seated in the chairs facing the Headmistress' table.

"Oh hello Professor Snape, Remus! I didn't see you there!" Harry greeted.

"Evidently. And it's Severus, Harry, I'm not your professor anymore," Severus smirked.

Remus laughed, "Hello Harry! Honestly I never thought I would live to see the day that you two become friends!"

"Neither did I, Remus. But then, miracles happen all the time, don't they?" Harry smiled.

McGonagall cleared her throat, "You said that you wanted to see me? Call me Minerva, by the way."

Harry's smile grew forced. "Actually, come to think of it, it's good that all three of you are here together. I assume you've read the Daily Prophet this morning?" Harry asked. The three adults nodded.

"Good then, you'll understand what I'm saying. I need to leave this country immediately; it's not safe for me anymore. I just came to tell you that I'm leaving now, and it's unlikely that I'll ever return to England again," Harry finished.

Minerva and Remus had shocked expressions on their faces, whereas there was simply a sort of resigned sadness in Severus' expression.

"Leaving? But why? We can protect you, Harry. No one can find you with the Fidelius Charm; you'll be safe! There's no need to leave…" Minerva cried.

"Where would you go, if you left? Any other wizarding community will recognize you and you'll be found easily!" Remus exclaimed.

"Oh honestly, you Gryffindors can be so dense!" Severus scowled. "Don't you see? Harry isn't going to go to a wizarding community; he is going to stay in the Muggle world. He'll have no trouble fitting in, and he won't be tracked so easily because there are so many Muggles around!" He turned back to Harry, "Have you decided where you would go?"

Harry smiled; he treasured Severus as a good friend because he was one of the only people who truly understood him and didn't try to mother him all the time. "Yeah, I've actually been toying with the idea of leaving for quite some time now; I just didn't think it would be so soon. I've decided to go to Forks, Washington. It's a rather secluded town, so I won't be found easily, and the population is very small, which suits me perfectly." Harry replied.

"Are you sure about this, Harry? You could come and live with me and Dora, and I'm sure Teddy would love to have his godfather around…" Remus trailed off.

Harry shook his head. "I'm sorry Remus, but I can't do that," he apologized, "It's better if I leave. You and Tonks are very dear friends to me, but I wouldn't be comfortable imposing on your family like that, not to mention the danger that would pose to you. Besides, I've settled everything with Gringotts already; hell, I've even bought a house in Forks! I'm good to go now. I like the idea of leaving, actually, having a fresh start someplace else. I'll miss you guys a lot, but this place holds too many painful memories for me."

The adults were silent for a while. The three of them were very close to Harry, and knew that despite his apparent maturity and the facade of a warrior that Harry held up, deep down he was just an emotionally scarred child who yearned for love and approval. Then, Remus stepped forward.

"If that's the case, I wish you good luck for your new life in Forks, Harry. Always know that, I may not be your father, but I'm proud of you, Harry. If you ever need anything from me, don't hesitate to ask." Remus hugged Harry tightly.

"That goes for me as well," said Minerva, walking forward to embrace Harry. "You were an exceptional student, and with your empathic natural healing abilities, I'm sure you would have been an outstanding Healer, if not for the present circumstances. Those Ministry fools are just too dim-witted to see that you abhor violence and are too compassionate to be an Auror."

"I agree," said Severus, placing his hands on Harry's shoulders, "You have one of the kindest souls I've ever seen, Harry. I'm truly sorry that it took me so long to see past the fact that you are James Potter's son, to see that deep inside, you are truly Lily Evans' son. It saddens me immensely to know that you were willing to die for the wizarding world, and did literally, but they just turned their backs on you that way. Shacklebolt has changed so much since his wife died. I mean, how could they……" Severus trailed off, shaking his head in disgust.

Harry remembered that final battle all too well……

_(Flashback)_

_Severus, who had been destroying Voldemort's horcruxes on the sly, was finally caught by Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, and a few other Death Eaters. Outnumbered, he was overpowered and hauled off to Voldemort to face a traitor's death._

_At that time, Harry was in the owlery at Hogwarts, just accompanying Hedwig and seeking some relief away from the gossiping student crowd. Now that Ron and Hermione were a couple, they didn't seem to have time for him anymore. He suddenly saw a black raven flying towards him, bearing a letter with no signature on it. It read:_

_Harry Potter,_

_I have grown weary of these waiting games. I challenge you to a duel to death tonight; this letter is a portkey and the activation code is "Salazar". If you do not come to me by midnight today, I will launch successive attacks on Hogwarts and take the school by force. The blood of any student who dies will be on your head, Potter. _

_And just so that you have a little encouragement, I have your little spy with me. You will watch him suffer a traitor's death by the stroke of midnight. No one betrays Lord Voldemort and gets away with it._

_The Dark Lord_

_By the time Harry finished reading the letter, it was eleven o'clock at night. He had less than an hour to get ready and save Severus. Quickly grabbing a pen, he had scribbled a note to the Headmistress, telling her that he was going to meet Voldemort and save Severus, and that there was nothing else she could do but wait for his news. Tying the letter to Hedwig's foot, he instructed her not to send the letter until one hour later. _

_He then dashed back to Gryffindor Tower and grabbed his invisibility cloak. Checking that his wand was secured in the wand holster on his arm, he wandlessly cast a silencing charm on his shoes. He knew that Voldemort would never play fair, and as soon as he landed from the portkey, he would be captured by the Death Eaters. If he wanted to save Severus and still carry out his plan, he would have to land soundlessly and ensure that no one knew he had arrived. _

_Harry knew that he would not leave this battle alive. There was a piece of Voldemort's soul inside him; if that piece was not got rid of, Voldemort would never die. And the only way to get rid of that horcrux in him was to let Voldemort kill him. Severus, who had taken on the role of his personal trainer, had never allowed him to even think about that idea; he insisted that there had to be other ways to destroy that horcrux. But now, there was no time to think of other ideas. Harry wasn't fazed by the idea of death. After all, death couldn't be so bad if he was reunited with his parents and Sirius. Armed with that in mind, he wrapped the invisibility cloak firmly around himself, touched the letter and murmured, "Salazar". Harry felt the familiar tugging sensation in his gut, and was whirled away from the Gryffindor dormitory. It was 11.45pm._

_When he landed without a sound, he stood up lightly and looked around. He stifled a sardonic snort. He was in the graveyard where Voldemort was reborn in his fourth year, during the Tri-wizard tournament. How typical of the Dark Lord to pick such a venue for this "event". His smirk fell away when he caught sight of Severus lying motionless on the ground, two masked Death Eaters standing in front of him. Voldemort was some distance away, standing arrogantly in a circle of Death Eaters, flanked by Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. _

_Silently, Harry sneaked over to where Severus was. Even with his strong Occlumency shields in place, his empathic abilities could pick up Severus' pain. The man was obviously tortured badly, seeming to be in a semi-conscious state. He was trembling violently, suggesting countless hours under the Cruciatus curse, and his back was bleeding profusely, indicating that he had been whipped mercilessly. From his shallow, labored breathing, Harry could tell that the man had quite a few broken ribs, and they had probably pierced one of his lungs as well. _

_Harry was about to place his hands on Severus to heal him, when suddenly, Voldemort said in his high, cold voice, "Bring the traitor here. It is midnight, and I'm disappointed to say that the Potter brat is unlikely to come. We shall execute the traitor now, and then disperse." It was now or never. Harry leapt up from his position and uncloaked himself._

"_You're not disappointed, Tom," he said, "I'm here." There was a huge uproar as the Death Eaters laughed in triumph. Voldemort stepped forward, smiling._

"_Harry Potter, a true Gryffindor indeed. But Gryffindors are no match for Slytherins, boy; I have absolutely no intention of dueling you tonight. You will die; there are simply too many of us here for you to escape again." Voldemort smirked. He was taken aback when Harry smiled._

"_I expected no less from you; that's why I'm doing this!" Harry thrust the invisibility cloak into Severus' arms, and stepping back, he yelled, "Godric!" Severus suddenly disappeared, and Harry heaved a sigh of relief. At least he knew now that Severus was safe in the Headmistress' office and receiving treatment. _

_The Death Eaters roared in rage and started to advance towards Harry, but Voldemort held up a hand. They fell silent. "So, Harry Potter, you think you could outwit Lord Voldemort? The traitor may have escaped, but there's nothing that can help you to escape now. You will still die," he sneered. _

_Harry pulled his wand out and threw it to Voldemort. The Dark Lord caught the wand, stunned. _

"_I didn't expect to make it out of here alive tonight. So go on, kill me, I won't defend myself," Harry shrugged. _

_Voldemort's red eyes narrowed. Then, he whipped out his wand and screamed, "Avada Kedavra!" Harry saw the green light advancing towards him, and then blackness took over. _

_Drifting around in the darkness, Harry found himself facing the three people that he had longed to see the most. "Mum, Dad! Sirius!" he exclaimed as he rushed to hug them. They laughed, hugging him tightly back. _

"_So this is it?" he asked, "I'm in heaven? Why is it all dark?"_

_Lily laughed, "No dear, you're not dead. Not yet, at least."_

"_What?" Harry was stunned. "But I let him kill me! I didn't defend myself! I was supposed to die!"_

"_Calm down, son," James reassured him. "The fact that you willingly sacrificed yourself so that Voldemort can be defeated has made all the difference!"_

_Sirius grinned, "Remember pup, when Voldemort used your blood for his rebirth? That was his undoing! Just like he was tethered to life while his horcrux was in you, you are similarly tethered to life while your blood runs in his veins!"_

"_So does that mean that I'm now in some sort of limbo between life and death? The horcrux in me is gone, isn't it?" Harry asked. _

"_Yes, it is gone. But now you have to make a choice. You can either move on with us to heaven, or you can go back to that graveyard, and then live out the rest of your life," said James._

_Harry looked at his parents and Sirius sadly; he knew that he could not stay._

"_I…I wish I could stay, but I have to get rid of Voldemort, or else more people that I love will get killed. As long as Voldemort is alive, Remus, Severus, they're all in danger. I have to go back," Harry murmured._

_Lily smiled sadly, "I knew you would make the right choice, sweetheart, and not what is easy. I'm proud of you." She hugged him tightly._

_Similarly, James gave Harry a tight embrace and said, "By the way, when you duel Voldemort later, keep in mind that in terms of raw magical power, you're stronger than him. Try not to worry so much," he grinned._

_Harry stared at him, bemused. "What do you mean? I'm more powerful than Voldemort?"_

_James replied, "I guess not many people would know this, but I was not only descended from Gryffindor, but from Ravenclaw as well. As for your mother, well, most supposedly muggleborns are actually descendants of pure-blooded Squibs; your mother is one of them. She's descended from Slytherin and Hufflepuff. That's probably why you're a Parselmouth and an empathic natural healer; Slytherin and Hufflepuff were famous for those traits. In short, you are the heir to all four of the Hogwarts founders, and this also explains why you are the only person whom Hogwarts has granted permission to apparate in and out of her wards at will."_

_Harry gaped at his father, "But, I thought Tom was the heir of Slytherin!"_

_Sirius jumped in, "Old Mouldyshorts is the descendant of Slytherin's bastard son; so technically, while he is a descendant of Slytherin, he is not the heir to Slytherin, that'll be you."_

"_Wow! That's a lot to take in…" Harry mumbled._

_Sirius laughed, "Don't worry kiddo; you'll be able to handle it! Just kick his ass, ok? Then go and enjoy the rest of your life for as long as you can; you deserve that, no doubt." He hugged Harry and clapped him on the back. _

_Harry looked at them longingly, "I'll miss you guys, but don't worry; I don't intend to die any time soon now, so I guess it'll be quite some time before I see you again." He sighed. "Okay, now how do I get back to the graveyard?"_

"_Just close your eyes and concentrate on being back at the graveyard; you'll soon hear the sounds around you, and that's when you know that you're back there," Lily answered._

_Harry did just that, and soon, he heard the sounds of the shouting Death Eaters around him. From what he heard, it sounded like Voldemort had fainted the moment he was hit with the green curse, and was just regaining consciousness now, like him. Harry mentally steeled himself for the task ahead; he reminded himself that he was more powerful than Voldemort and there was no reason for him to be worried now._

_Just then, he heard Voldemort ask in his cold voice, "Is the boy dead? Someone check on him!"_

_Harry tensed his muscles, ready to leap up. As soon as he heard the Death Eater come close, he opened his eyes and jumped to his feet, punching the Death Eater straight in his face. Then, quick as a flash, he erected a shield bubble around himself, protecting himself from the onslaught of spells the assembled Death Eaters fired at him. To Harry's delight, the shield held and the spells bounced uselessly against it, instead being reflected back at the spell casters. He almost laughed as many Death Eaters fell flat on their backs from the reflected stunning spells and petrifying spells._

_Voldemort stared at him in fury. "So, it has come to this, hasn't it?" he whispered. "The heir to Gryffindor against the heir to Slytherin. Crucio!" The red unforgivable curse speeded towards Harry's shield. Not wanting to take the risk, Harry rolled away to the side, dodging the curse. "Coward!" screamed the Dark Lord, "Surrender now, Harry Potter! You know that you can never achieve the level of power that I have!"_

_Harry got to his feet. Let's end this, he decided. "Are you sure about that, Tom? If you ask me, I think I have a pretty high chance of defeating you. After all, what is the descendant of the bastard son of Slytherin, compared to the true heir to all four of the Hogwarts founders?" he smiled._

_Voldemort screamed in rage, "You lie! You are nothing! I am the heir to Slytherin, and I will destroy you! Avada Kedavra!"_

_Harry poured as much power as he could into the shield. He remembered that love was the strongest power of all, and thought of his love for his parents, Sirius, Remus, Severus, and all the other people that were important to him. Pouring forth that love into the shield, he braced himself as the deadly green curse reached him._

_The impact jarred his entire body painfully; he fell to his knees as he struggled to hold up the shield against the killing curse. The green curse strained at his shield, as if trying to force its way through. Looking up, Harry saw that Tom also had a look of intense concentration on his face. I guess this is the battle of wills, he thought wryly._

_Harry gritted his teeth; I'm more powerful than him, he thought, I can win this! I just have to summon up that power! I must defeat him, or else Remus, Severus and everyone else will still be in danger! With this thought, suddenly, as if the floodgates had opened, magic poured forth into his shield. With a loud cry, Harry pushed his shield outward, sending the green curse back the path where it came from. The killing curse slammed into Tom's chest, sending him backwards onto the ground as his face took on an expression of shock and horror. _

_Then, all was silent. Harry slowly stood up, staring at the lifeless figure of Tom Riddle on the ground. The Death Eaters around them were shell-shocked, unable to believe that their master was dead. Finally, Bellatrix Lestrange broke out of her stupor. "He killed the Dark Lord! Seize Potter!" she screamed, a look of deranged fury on her face._

_The Death Eaters rushed towards Harry, shooting spells from their wands. Harry's shield held under the onslaught, but he could feel his power gradually diminishing. Diving towards Voldemort's body, He grabbed it and concentrated hard on the Headmistress' Office in Hogwarts. With a crack, he disapparated from the graveyard, reappearing in front of a startled Minerva. Gesturing to the body, he said simply, "It is done."_

_Minerva gaped at the body for a moment, then quickly regained her composure. "Quick, Harry! You must hurry to the Hospital Wing at once! Severus needs you!" she said urgently. "I will handle this from here. GO!"_

_Harry nodded and disapparated from the Headmistress' Office, missing the gob smacked look on Minerva's face. He appeared in the private room next to Madam Pomfrey's office reserved for the staff, causing Madam Pomfrey to shriek in fright. She clung onto the bed frame for support, clutching at her chest. "Harry! Don't do that again! I didn't know that you could apparate within Hogwarts!" she hissed at him. _

_Harry smiled tightly, "That's a long story. But firstly, how is Severus?"_

_Madam Pomfrey's face took on a crushed expression. "His injuries are too severe, and he's running a dangerously high fever now. I can't do anything for him; all I can do now is to make him more comfortable until he…passes on…" her voice trailed off as she gestured to the cloth and basin of water she had been using to dab at Severus' face. _

_(End of flashback)_

It had been an extremely close call. Harry had finally been able to save Severus and heal all his injuries, but had passed out after that due to the magical exhaustion. When he woke up, he was confronted by the newly elected Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt, who together with the other Ministry officials, demanded that he immediately joined the Aurors to hunt down the rest of the Death Eaters as it was his 'duty' to do so. Snapping a negative reply to the Minister, Harry had packed his trunk and gone straight back to Grimmauld Place, not having the mood to be bothered by anyone else. It was then that he realized the lies Rita Skeeter had written, leading to his present decision to leave the country immediately.

Harry was pulled out of his musings when Severus hugged him tightly. He was surprised; Severus hardly showed such emotion usually. But then and again, he reflected, the two of them had come a long way, and Severus was like a mentor to him.

Severus released Harry and clapped him on the back, "You'll keep in touch?" he asked.

"Oh!" Harry rummaged around the small backpack that he had with him. "I almost forgot! Thanks for reminding me, Sev!" He handed a cell phone each to the three adults.

"But, these won't work here. Not with all the magic around…" Remus looked at Harry in confusion.

Harry grinned, "I've charmed them so that they do work in any magical community. They'll work just like any Muggle cell phones, and I've charged any phone costs to my account. These can't be tracked in any way, unlike Floo, hence I can communicate frequently with you guys."

He shouldered the backpack and said, "Well, if that is all, I guess I should leave now. Goodbye, everyone. I'll call you when I reach my new house." After saying his last farewells, Harry disapparated from Hogwarts.

Three hours later, he was on the plane to Forks, Washington. Looking out of the window, he sighed. Hopefully, he would finally be able to experience a normal life.


	8. Chapter 8: Arrival

Chapter 8: Arrival

"Here we are, Mr. Evans," said Johnson, the escort arranged by Gringotts to bring Harry to his new house. He had met Harry at the Seattle airport with Harry's new car, which he had purchased through Gringotts whilst still in England. Pulling up in front of the house, he got out of the car and Harry did the same.

"All right, that's your house, and I'll be making a move now. It was a pleasure to meet you," said Johnson, extending a hand towards Harry. Harry smiled and shook the hand firmly, thanking the man for his help. Then, very discreetly, he flicked his wrist.

His wand slid into his hand, and pointing it at Johnson, he murmured, "Obliviate!" The man's eyes became unfocused and a blank look settled over his face. "You will not remember anything about me, and neither will you remember that I was here in the first place. You will return to your office in town, and think that you have done nothing all morning." Harry finished the spell and slid the wand back into the holster on his wrist. Johnson stared blankly ahead for a few seconds, and turned on his heel and headed back to town. Harry sighed guiltily; it had to be done, he could not risk anyone tracking him and finding his whereabouts.

He leaned against his new car, a sleek black newest model of Mercedes which was not even out in the American market yet, and surveyed the house in satisfaction. Gringotts had done a great job in picking out a house according to his tastes; it was double-storey and simply-structured, but had certain elegance to it and was surrounded by a beautiful garden. He could not see it from here, but Harry knew that there was also a large backyard behind the house that was near the forest; it was a perfect location for him to go flying without being spotted easily by the Muggles.

Pulling out the house keys, Harry strode to the front door and unlocked it. He pushed open the door, eager to take a look at the interior of the house. There was a kitchen, a living room and a dining room. Running up the stairs, he found four fully-furnished rooms, all with their own bathrooms. Harry grinned in delight and pulled out his cell phone.

"Hey Severus! It's Harry! I've arrived at my new house in Forks! It's just awesome; there's even room for you and the others to come and visit should you wish to," Harry spoke into the phone with the excitement of a small child.

Severus chuckled and replied, "Of course we'll visit some time. I'm glad you've made it there safely; back here, you are now wanted by both the Death Eaters and the Ministry. Those imbeciles did believe Skeeter's article, so remember, Harry, constant vigilance! We'll keep track of their activities and update you regularly, so don't worry and just take a chance to enjoy life there. You deserve it. Now, I really must be going; I have a lesson in ten minutes."

"All right then, thank you so much for all your help, Sev. Send my regards to Remus and Minerva! Bye!" Harry ended the call and looked back at the rooms, trying to make his decision as to which one he would occupy.

He decided to take the biggest room; after all, it was his house. Unshrinking his trunk, he levitated it and deposited it neatly into the corner of the room. With a wave of his wand, his clothes, books and other belongings flew out of the trunk and settled neatly in their respective places. Harry left his important possessions like this Firebolt, Invisibility cloak, and other magical things in the trunk, not wanting to display them so openly in case any Muggles came to his house. Shutting the trunk, he locked and charmed it so that only he would be able to touch the trunk. After all, he had a portable Potions lab in the magically enlarged compartment of the trunk, not to mention an entire library of priceless books that he had inherited from his father and Sirius.

"Right, so unpacking is done for now!" Harry perched on the bed, surveying the room. His eyes fell upon the open wardrobe door. Walking to stand in front of it, he inspected his clothes in growing disbelief. He had long got rid of the disgusting rags the Dursleys had made him wear, but since he left the Dursleys ar the beginning of seventh year, he had hardly the time to shop for his own clothes, what with saving the Wizarding world and all. Now, he found himself with seven worn-looking T-shirts, only two pairs of jeans in decent condition, and two old jackets, as well as socks and underwear. His nicest clothes were easily the ones which he was currently wearing. Had he really got by the last few years with only so few sets of clothes?

A grin spread over Harry's face. It was time to make a shopping trip in Seattle (there were more shops and greater variety), and for the first time in his life, he would be able to buy anything he wanted to and shop for as long as he liked! After all, he was now emancipated and legally considered an adult. He was finally living his own life! Checking that he had his cell phone, wallet and wand, he grabbed the car keys and bounded out of the house cheerfully.

He paused for a moment, though, to set up wards around the house to prevent any intruder from breaking in. Satisfied that his wards wouldn't allow anyone in except him, Harry hopped into his car and speeded towards Seattle.

* * *

The Cullens lounged around the living room, doing their various activities. Carlisle and Esme sat side by side on the sofa, the family patriarch reading a new medical journal while Esme simply enjoyed the feel of cuddling into his side. Emmett and Jasper were on the floor in front of the plasma screen, having fun with Emmett's new martial arts game on the Xbox. Edward perched on a stool behind them, happily ruining their fun by saying out loud what they were thinking. Alice sat next to Jasper, enthusiastically egging him on, while Rosalie reclined in the armchair next to Emmett, reading a fashion magazine and rolling her eyes every so often at the antics of the boys.

Suddenly, Alice went stiff and her eyes stared at nothing in particular. The Cullens halted their activities and waited in anticipation. Since the terrible incident with Carlisle ten years ago, all of them had started to pay much more attention to every of Alice's visions, not wanting to be surprised again like that. As soon as Alice relaxed, Jasper asked urgently, "Well, what did you see? Is there danger?"

"It's…not danger, at least it doesn't seem to be," Alice replied in a chirpy voice, grinning widely.

Rosalie shifted impatiently. "What is it, then?" she demanded.

"A new boy has come to live in Forks! He looks about fifteen or sixteen years old, has messy black hair and is rather short. I couldn't really see him properly; the vision was kind of fuzzy. He just moved into the house on the other side of the forest, the one that Esme designed! He's on his way to go shopping in Seattle! Imagine that! A boy who actually goes shopping voluntarily!" Alice squealed in glee. "Oh, and I got this really strong sense of familiarity from him, like I've seen him before from somewhere," she added.

Edward nodded, "I saw that vision. I got that strong sense of familiarity too. I'm sure I've seen him before, but he probably looked different then, so I can't recognize him."

"The nearest house to us is the one on the other side of the forest; if this boy is moving in, then doesn't that mean that he's our new…neighbor?" Emmett grinned. Alice nodded. "Cool! Let's go meet him now!" he said excitedly.

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "He's on his way to Seattle now. To go shopping," she reminded Emmett.

Carlisle was rather interested to meet this new neighbor. After all, they had lived in isolation since they moved into Forks, so this would be the first human who actually lived near enough to walk to their home. Besides, Alice and Edward mentioned that he seemed familiar, so he wondered if he would recognize the boy. Smiling at Esme and his children, he asked, "What do you say to us taking a family shopping trip to Seattle? I'm sure we'll see this boy there."

Alice squealed in delight and flung herself at him. "Hooray!" she cheered and rushed to her room to get ready, pulling Jasper along with her.

Rosalie looked pleased at the idea of shopping, but seemed slightly put off that it was all for the sake of seeing a human. She went to her room as well, dragging along Emmett who was whining, "Carlisle, you can't be serious! Shopping!?"

Edward sighed in resignation and skulked off to his room as well. Carlisle smiled at Esme, and together, they walked up the stairs to retreat to their own room.

Ten minutes later, the Cullens were all piled into the Jeep, and with Carlisle driving, they headed to Seattle.


	9. Author's Note! :

Hi readers!

I haven't updated this story in ages, as y'all can clearly see. However, I'd never exactly thought about abandoning it until I received a PM from an author expressing interest in adopting this fic.

As I'm currently in one of the most hectic phases of my life, i.e. studying for A levels, I've decided to allow the author to adopt this story, since it's been a long time since I've had any spare time to even think about the story's development. I hope that the next author, FrontlinersShadow, will do it justice and you guys will continue to read it there.

To all the readers who've read the story and decided to follow/favourite/review it despite the long hiatus, thanks for your support. While I may not have the time now, I will definitely return to writing fanfiction after my exams, though I'll probably change my penname because my interests have shifted away from Twilight.

Here's the link to FrontlinersShadow's profile: u/3298020/

As of now, the new story hasn't been put up yet, but I'll post a note here when the author does so that y'all don't have to subscribe to too many alerts! (Thank you to PadyandMoony for the reminder, this totally slipped my mind!)

If you're wondering, I haven't totally given up on this story, will consider finishing the idea after my exams end in December (:

Thanks again for your support, have a great day!


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